There was another dinner party at John and Pedro's Sunday evening with, yet again, very interesting people. Aside from the requisite young Brazilian guys, there were two Brazilian - one of whom was bright, funny and gorgeous. I have to say I was totally surprised at then end of the evening when she asked if we could be friends on Facebook. Monika has an intriguing story but I won't go into that. There was another couple there who were also very interesting. She is the daughter of the former president of Peru and he is an architect currently working on a project for Elton John. Not sure I had too much to add to those conversations! Here are a couple of photos from that evening.
Then, Monday morning, I left London, took the express train to Heathrow to pick up a rental car and headed to the English countryside where I to meet up with several of my second cousins. My first destination was Collingbourne Ducis in Wiltshire where my mother's cousin's Eileen's son lives with his wife. For nearly 43 years they live overseas, mainly in Indonesia but also India, before returning to the lovely thatched cottage they'd bought in that village. It is the oldest listed cottage there dating from the 1400s and 1500s depending on what part you are looking at. It was recently newly thatched. I had a lovely lunch with them. I don't know them well and it was lovely to get better acquainted. Their son is married to a Canadian woman and he is currently in charge of one of the main museums in Philadelphia. I should probably Google him and get his position correct!
After our lunch, my next destination was in Dorset in the village of Motcombe just outside Shaftesbury where I was going to have dinner and stay with another second cousin, Ann (Peter's sister). I didn't really have a lot of trouble driving to either of these places although the country roads can be treacherous with the potholes! More about that in the next post! Anyway, Ann's cottage sits at the edge of some fields where there are horses and sheep. It was a perfect evening to have dinner on her patio enjoying the garden and the bucolic setting.
Tuesday morning, I was would be heading to Westward Ho! in on the coast in Devon (the only place in the UK - and I would venture a guess the world - that has an exclamation mark in its name!). I will be spending about 10 days there with various people starting with another second cousin (who is like a brother to me), Paul. Can't wait to see him again.
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